Akiva and the Hunt

This last weekend my buddy, Wes Martin, and I made a last minute trip to Illinois to do some construction work and a little bit of deer hunting on the side. His parents have a big remodel project going so we cruised over to help knock out as much as we could in a couple of days. Both Wes and I were more than happy to do so because it gave a chance to get into the woods and hunt an area that is known throughout the United Sates for its monster sized bucks. Sadly, by the end of the trip we didn’t see any deer but we still had a blast hanging out and fellowshipping with everyone over godly conversation with the sound of skill saw’s running and hammers banging in the background.

Saturday morning after our final deerless time in the woods we packed up, jumped in the truck and started the six-hour drive back to Kansas City. On the way back we were talking about the power of identity and how important it is for a Christian to be confident in the truth of who they are as defined by Jesus. For it is His opinion over your life that is the only one that matters and if we do not know and live by this truth we will be drastically crippled in our pursuit of His calling over our lives.

As we talked along these lines I was reminded of an ancient story that was given by Rabbi Akiva around the year 90AD. It goes like this:

“I (Rabbi Akiva) was walking home to Capernaum one evening after the sun had set. While speaking and meditating upon God’s Word I made my commute and somehow took a wrong turn. To my surprise I ended up at the gates of Tiberius and was startled as a voice came down from the watch tower saying, “Who are you?! What are you doing here?!” It was the Roman night watchman on the north gates. His voice was very strong and firm. It jolted me out of my meditating like a bucket of cold water does out of sleep. I was so caught off guard by his question that I didn’t respond. He then asked me again with even more energy in his voice, “Who are you?! What are you doing here?!” I then responded back to him by asking, “What is your name and what are you getting paid to do this job?” “My name is Cassius. Two Drachma a day!” I then told him that I would pay him double if he would come stand at my front door and ask me those same two questions every time I left my home and returned.”

Who are you? What are you dong here? Two questions that we all could benefit from asking ourselves on a daily basis.